Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
With only two quarterbacks on the roster since the departure of Trevor Siemian, the Vikings have been looking to add another arm to the rotation. By the looks of it, Kirk Cousins and Kyle Sloter could get some company next week.
According to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press, free agent quarterback Sean Mannion (6-6, 223) will visit with the Vikings on Monday. Mannion was drafted in the third round (89th overall) by the Rams in 2015. Naturally, he traveled from St. Louis to Los Angeles with the team.
The 26 year-old played sparingly in four seasons with the Rams, making only one start. Altogether he compiled 59 passing snaps, completing 33-of-53 passes (62.3%) for 258 yards. So far, the soon-to-be 27 year-old has thrown zero touchdowns and one interception in the NFL. He appeared in three games last season, completing 2-of-3 passes for 23 yards.
Mannion had quite the college career. He was a four-year starter at Oregon State. As a Beaver he completed 64.6% of his passes and finished with a 83:54 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Mannion broke school and conference records his junior season after throwing for 4,662 yards with 37 TD’s and 15 INTs with a 66.3% completion rate.
Here’s what his NFL.com Draft Profile had to say:
“Tall, rhythm thrower who shows an ability to play with confidence and accuracy when used as a game manager within an offense featuring a strong rushing attack. Mannion needs plays to stay on schedule or his confidence becomes shaky and the turnovers start rolling in. Mannion lacks arm talent to carry an offense, but has enough ability to become a capable backup.”
If you’re like me you haven’t heard much about Mannion up to this point. With a few years of NFL seasoning now under his belt, most recently under Rams head coach Sean McVay, the Vikings could certainly do worse finding an affordable veteran to complete with Kyle Sloter as the backup. At $2.573 million in salary cap space, the team doesn’t have many options. If he winds up joining the team, Mannion will work under new quarterbacks coach Klint Kubiak.
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Pretty much the perfect kind of NFL veteran to compete with Sloter for QB2. Mannion is no Tyrod Taylor or Ryan Fitzpatrick, but he's got four NFL training camps and pre-seasons under his belt, so he should be able to give Sloter a real run for his money.
Thank for sharing this valuable information.
I go with the new offensive coaching staff and what they think because they surely know much more than we do~Or else we would have jobs somewhere in the NFL~Correct me if I'm wrong~